A curious development unfolded barely a couple of days before the conclusion of the pilgrims’ airlift from Sokoto state when uncertainty fever grips Pilgrims of the Shagari local Government area of Sokoto state as a result of controversy surrounding their missing BTA.

This controversy came as a result of the sudden disappearance of their Basic Travelling Allowances (BTA) totalling about 18 million naira, in the possession of their former council secretary Nura Balarabe who also doubles as Hajj registration officer of the Local Government area.

A war of attrition quickly raged when the news of the pilgrims missing BTA between the Sokoto state pilgrims welfare Agency (PWA) and Nura Balarabe former council secretary to the extent that, the Agency was left with no choice other than to make available 400 dollars to each of the affected intending pilgrims for their upkeep while in Saudi Arabia pending the retrieval of their BTA from the former secretary now in custody for peace to reign.

The former secretary could not offer any convincing or satisfactory reasons behind the sudden missing of the pilgrim’s 18 million naira BTA in a questionable circumstance that gave birth to the embarrassing development of a reputable Agency like PWA.

According to a source very close to Sokoto state Pilgrims Welfare Agency (PWA) who spoke to our correspondent on an anonymous condition said the affected pilgrims will have to manage the meagre amount made available to them by the Agency as officials engage in talks on how best to recover the amount from relations of the suspect who alleged, the pilgrims BTA in his possession was stolen in his residence while on transit to Hajj camp.

The 18 million naira Pilgrims BTA was said to have been collected in Dollars a few hours before the pilgrim’s outbound flight to Saudi Kingdom by the former secretary from PWA for onward distribution to the affected pilgrims when he suddenly disclosed the unfortunate information that their BTA has been stolen by an unknown person.

The sad news however forced concerned Pilgrims to stage a peaceful demonstration at the Airport which later call the attention of the operatives of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) at the Pilgrims Camp who later arrested Nura Balarabe who was about to board a flight for the same Hajj exercise and seized his passport.

When our correspondent seek confirmation from the Sokoto state police command, the acting Police public relations Officer Assistant Superintendent of Police Rufa’I Ahmed said the matter was not brought before the state command.

Our correspondent further move to the state headquarters of the DSS where the Director confirmed the arrest and detention of the suspect Nura Balarabe, but quickly said the suspect and Sokoto state PWA were at a higher level discussion on the possibility of retrieving the said Pilgrims BTA including the disposal of his Assets.

When our correspondent PWA for confirmation on the alleged missing BTA, the Public Relations Officer of state PWA Malam Faruku Umar confirmed the incident but refused to give further comments as according to him the matter is before the court.

It could be recalled that the former transition committee chairman Ambassador Abubakar Sani Makama while presenting his report to the then Governor-elect, now Governor Dr Ahmad Aliyu, said members of the subcommittee on State Pilgrims welfare Agency PWA have met stiff resistance from the then officials of the Agency.

He said officials of the Agency were reluctant to even acknowledge the letter sent by the committee members which in the end made their ad-hoc assignment very difficult to execute in that sector. (Saturday Vanguard)

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